Matzine editions #1 – #10 have been indulgence in the art of hyper rapid publishing. This approach, born out of the notions of ⌘C ⌘V as a form of creative production, has forced the artists to respond in kind. ‘The Everynight’ by André Ford is exemplar of this incremental approach of releasing ideas to the public domain.

When faced with the challenge, André emptied his pockets on to the bed of a photocopier, printed them, scanned them and submitted the result. The accompanying text connects the process to the theme of the current edition, Brick, Matzine #10. This submission embodies matzines current trend; efficient production and representation of ideas at a fast pace.

The latest in the series of Editor’s Choices is taken from Matzine 07, “The Hourglass Issue” [ed.Seán McAlister]

This submission, by illustrator Holly Wales, was an invitation into her mind; a glimpse at the thinking process in creating intriguing compositions. It presents to us an idea of order and disorder and how our brains process the construction of an image. I’m intrigued by this piece as it eludes to an infinite amount of possibilities and that what we see here are only moments in a continuous mechanism. These moments capture how our brains try to grasp onto something tangible that we can relate to: to offer us comfort or recognition, and come to a conclusion that what we are looking at is something familiar.

It is not difficult to appreciate the influence of this process on creating and viewing architecture and space. To treat a facade as a kit of parts that needs to be assembled/desembled to create something recognisable. To see forms that bring nostalgia of past moments in time. An appreciation of disorder in architecture would at first seem counterintuitive, but this just might be the perfect route to another kind of order, not yet seen or used.

This week’s Editor’s Choice is taken from Matzine 06, “The Construc[tive] Critique”.

Kirstin Norwood work ‘Gaps‘ shows her micro sculpture accompanied by an extract from 6th century text Tao Te Ching written by Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu.

“The sculpture itself,consists of three elements; a magnet, blade and nylon thread. The blade is tethered back from the magnet by the thread and thus is only barely touching the magnetic field produced by the magnet.”

For me this image captures the invisible as much as the visible. There are forces at work beyond our visual perception and it is precisely what’s not there, what we are not told, which creates an intensity, a tension and a stillness.

The words of Lao Tzu remind us of those moments ‘when absence can be the most emphatic form of presence.’ [MINIMALISMS, Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Javier Rodriguez Marcos : Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 2000.]

In current culture which is suffering withdrawal from an excess and superfluity, where the tendency is to attribute value to tangible commodities, I find this image particularly poignant.

Perhaps we, as architects, thinkers and makers, might glean from this composition, less about what we might choose to do, and more about what we might choose not to.